It followed me home

[JHCC]

Also stopped in at a used bookstore and found this interesting volume. 

A few random pages:

 

[Gazz]

Nice hammers John!  Is the tool place in Fremont or Epping?  I just heard of a place in one of those towns and I thought I knew of all those sorts of places.  A neighbor came by to talk to me about modifying a slick he had just bought there.  After a long discussion I was able to talk him out of the mods he wanted.  He is a retired carpenter and formerly worked for the government restoring various historic colonial buildings that are part of the parks system.  He used a slick to do what he called ship lap the ends of clapboard siding, somewhat like skiving the ends of a leather belt. 

In other news, I dragged these things home from a yard sale last fall and am wondering what they may have been used for.  Some kind of hose, tubing or pipe fitting tools?  I bought them thinking the chunks of steel might be useful for something in the shop.

Next is a forge blower that I got from an estate cleanout nearby.  I had stopped to look at the 1950 Jeepster that had been dragged out of the garage and this was on the floor of it. $20 later it was in my truck but does need some repair to the bolt ears but still spins freely.

And finally, I've had this crank in my piles for several years but every time I see it I am impressed by the smiths skill in making the transitional form so gracefully.  

I tried to edit my above post to add that two of the tools have sharp knurling and polished "working parts" with slight tapers at the end.    The edit function allowed me to add the text but then told me I couldn't edit because the post had been moved or something.  

[JHCC]

It’s The Vintage Tool Shop in Fremont. Interestingly, the guy who runs it is also one of the suppliers for Colonial Homestead in Ohio, which I mentioned visiting in an earlier post. 

[JHCC]

A few more goodies, these from a used tool liquidation place, also in southern New Hampshire.

Nothing I particularly needed apart from the buffing wheels, but they were having a 20% off moving sale (and they rang up the $9.99 pick head at $0.99).

[JHCC]

And this just arrived in the mail: four different densities of “therapy putty” (basically industrial strength Silly Putty) which I’ll be trying out as a pitch replacement in my Repoussé on the Road kit. 

(The Soft is about the same density as the SP in the egg, which works okay but sometimes feels a bit too soft.)

 

[Frosty]

Does it bounce like Silly Putty?

I've used modeling clay to chase into but you need to keep it cold or it softens up way too much. 

I stretched over a shot bag from my old drafting table. It's been so long and I didn't do repousse and chasing enough to get very good in the first place. Customizing Altoid tins is a great way to pass time with friends around a campfire or . . . 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Scott NC]

On 3/6/2024 at 4:32 PM, JHCC said:

Also stopped in at a used bookstore and found this interesting volume. 

   I suspect the used bookstores in my area cherry pick everything, where the good stuff goes, I don't know.  And I look closely and dig through boxes.... I'm starting to think conspiracy...   There's cookbooks & home fix-it books galore.  I have better luck at the flea markets.

[JHCC]

5 minutes ago, Scott NC said:

where the good stuff goes, I don't know.

eBay, a lot of the time.

[Scott NC]

  I wish I was tecno savy some times.  I always miss out on the easy money.

[TWISTEDWILLOW]

7 hours ago, JHCC said:

A few more goodies

What’s that half moon shaped thing?

[JHCC]

In the upper right corner? That's the head of a quarry pick, used for cutting or carving stone. You can see a larger one being used in Mr. Chickadee's video of making a stone base for his anvil, starting at about the 8:05 mark.

[TWISTEDWILLOW]

Oh cool I’ve never came across such an animal! 

[JHCC]

I might handle it and try it out on some of the local sandstone. If nothing else, it’s a pretty tool. 

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

On 3/7/2024 at 6:12 AM, Gazz said:

The edit function allowed me to add the text but then told me I couldn't edit because the post had been moved or something. 

The Edit function time is really short. If you go in right below your post and put what you want to edit, it will combine that post with your first one. It also has a time limit but not as short as the edit. Kinda weird if you ask me.

I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s.
Semper Paratus

 

[Frosty]

AND the next trick is once your two posts have been merged the edit time is restarted so you have a couple minutes to work on the first post you wanted to edit in the first place. 

It doesn't always work but does often enough to make trying worth it. If it's worth the hassle. Or . . . Nevermind. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[JHCC]

Another FB Marketplace find: two pairs of welding gloves for $20. 

The leather of the pair on the left is a bit stiff. Anyone ever have any success with softening up welding gloves with mink oil or a similar leather conditioner?

[Frosty]

Neatsfoot oil is what I've been using since I was a kid. It's effective, common off the shelf and so less expensive than more exotic oils. I admit I have no experience with mink oil, it might actually be superior, I don't know.

Frosty The Lucky.

[JHCC]

Mink oil does have the advantage that I already have some. (I got it to condition the leather on the nearly new Red Wings I got on FBM a couple of weeks ago; the previous owner was a heavy smoker, and I had to do a lot of cleaning to reduce the cigarette smoke to a tolerable level.) I'll give it a try this evening.

[Frosty]

Ahhh, an antidote to the Lucky Strike Red . . wing ambiance! 

Understandable Sir, best of luck on the quest.

Frosty The Lucky.

[JHCC]

It took a lot of washing and airing, but I managed to get it from "uncleaned dive bar" to "dead campfire".

[yt12]

there is an on-line auction with a nearby pick-up---------not much interest in this stick of iron------7'  x  6"-----snowplow blade------the good news bad news good news------i was reading 1/4 " thick-----pick up was 1/2 " thick------tagged as C1090------I know C1095 is a popular knife blade material----anyone with experience w 1090 ?-------followed me home for $ 11  !!!!

[George N. M.]

Probably a very good score.  Snowplow blades probably are a more complex alloy than plain 1090 because of the need for abrasion resistance.  This may make it somewhat harder to work.  My suggestion is to cut a 1/4" or so off the end and experiment with how it works and how it heat treats (and keep notes).  Try different quenching mediums and break pieces off so that you can examine the grain structure.  If it works out you have gotten a piece of high C steel that you will be using for years at less than scrap value.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[Frosty]

You may have lucked out on the snow plow edge, 1/2" thick is too thin to be off a heavy duty snow removal type plow. Those are typically 3/4" - 1" thick and an equivalent alloy to Vascowear which is 2" carbon will alloying metals to prevent it becoming brittle and probably 10% tungsten carbide particles for abrasion resistance. You need diamond drill bits to drill a hole in one and Blue wheels to grind or cut with an abrasive wheel. 

You almost undoubtedly have a higher than simple steel alloy but . . . Maybe. As George suggests make a series of test coupons to evaluate what you have.

A dead campfire is better than a dive bar ashtray. Fabreez works pretty well on B A D smelling stuff. Deb ordered a bottle of Pooph as seen on TV and it's a hands down excellent odor killer. I actually tested it on a steaming pile of Doxy poop and it was rendered good.

Frosty The Lucky.

[yt12]

gentlemen-----thank you for the replies ------testing is on the horizon------I will throw this out to any and all------for "standard, run of the mill C 1090" ( if there is such a thing) -------what are the common uses ? is it a good cutlery steel ? any anecdotal applications ? tia.

[Frosty]

If it's low alloy (AKA simple) steel 1090 makes fine cutlery. The knife section of Iforge is loaded with details from forging, heat treating, etc. I'm not a bladesmith but can tell you a couple things about working high carbon steel. The higher the carbon content the more critical heat management is from forging, normalizing, annealing, hardening tempering, cryogenics, etc. It's all heat treatment and the more carbon the greater the reaction so more care must be taken.

Frosty The Lucky.